Bar Americain

March 20th-

I watch him on TV, but I could no longer remember what his food tastes like. It was time to go back and visit one of Bobby Flay's restaurants again. Since we haven't been to Bar Americain in at least two years, and I remembered it fondly, I decided we must go there tonight. We arrived at nine and the place was hopping! After being seated near, but not too near, the open kitchen, which is cool, I looked at the cocktail menu hoping to find the maraschino cherry concoction that was given to me on my last visit, but sadly, it was not there. I consoled myself with a champagne cocktail instead. I forgot all about the champagne cocktail! And how could I? It's adding a simple little sugar cube with a dash a bitters.....and poof! It's a new drink! Delightful. Back to the menu....my eyes then went straight for the hot potato chips with blue cheese sauce. I had to have them. Lately, I've been obsessed with upscale chips and dip. I don't know what has come over me, but it has been one enjoyable obsession! Very tasty! I think I prefer the homemade chips with creme fraiche and caviar from Pravda, though. It must be the Russian in me. We also had a basket of various breads brought to us at this time, and I love a good cornbread! This one had teeny tiny bits of jalapeno in it.....tasted great with a bit of butter. Next, we had the dish I could absolutely not leave without having.....I have been enamored by this since my mom made her version of the dish she tasted in Seaside, Florida at the Great Southern Cafe........gulf shrimp and grits with bacon, green onions and garlic. Perfection! The grits were creamy and tasty....and the shrimp was so so good. I just want to say, good grits are amazingly delicious, but bad grits are just disgusting.....trust me.....I tried the bad ones the first time I attempted to make them.....now I respect them. Getting back to the meal.....we then moved on to the red pepper crab cake with red cabbage slaw and a basil vinaigrette. It was prepared the way crab cakes should be prepared.....so you can actually taste the crab and not just the cake (breading) part of it. The slaw was surprisingly yummy.....it looked like a garnish I would leave behind, but when I tasted it, I changed my mind. The basil sauce was the clincher- so fresh, so perfect with everything else. We found ourselves sopping up every last drop. For the main event, we chose the porterhouse lamb chops served with sweet potato gratin, tangerine hot sauce and fresh mint. I was not disappointed. The lamb was tender and juicy, and I loved the sweet potatoes with that texture instead of the mashed version I am used to. We could not fit one more bite of food into our mouths after that, although I was very tempted to try and stuff the blueberry lemon crepes with brown sugar brown butter down......next time.